A Little More Than Kin
''A Little More Than Kin ''is the third episode of Series 1. Synopsis Cheryl receives some unwanted attention from two of Wolf's best mates; Jethro's supposed Māori heritage comes under fire when a lawyerly 'colleague' starts to question the West family whakapapa; and Pascalle has a new line of work. Plot The West girls are visiting Wolf, before they head off for a bit of a night out. They’re off to a going away party at the Markham’s house. Allen and Lexy are two of Cheryl and Wolf’s oldest friends – old enough for Wolf to know exactly what a womanising bastard Allen is. Being pissed off with Wolf for his opposition to her grand plan for the family, she’s quite happy to let Wolf’s imagination do its worst. With him stuck in there and Allen all on his own while Lexy heads off to Paris… Who knows what might happen? Meanwhile, as the ‘Māori’ law clerk at Trapman-Stierson, Jethro is working on a potential goldmine of a case – misappropriated land, Treaty money – big fees for the company and big ups for Jethro if he can find the incriminating evidence. Enter Hugh, Jethro’s law clerk rival, onto the scene. Hugh is an up himself son of a judge and he wants in on Jethro’s job. This Jethro can deal with easily. What’s more awkward is that Hugh is rather too interested in Jethro’s ‘Māori roots’. He even goes as far as to wonder if Jethro is related to the famous white trash, criminal West family. The scent of blackmail hangs in the air, leaving Jethro in no position to argue when Hugh manages to brown-nose his way into the tribal case. Back in West Auckland, at the party, there is most certainly a frisson between Cheryl and Allen, but it is Eric who puts the first moves on Cheryl. Drunkenly and clumsily, of course, being Eric. And who should rescue Cheryl from Eric’s amorous embrace…? Allen Markham, her very own knight in shining polyester. Having saved her from Eric, Allen proposes to save Cheryl from her job as a checkout chick at BigFoods. Which is how Cheryl ends up managing the office at Markham Auto Imports. She’s earning heaps more money, Allen’s behaving himself around her and even Loretta approves of her new career choice. Except for the fact she’s just discovered Pascalle is working as a waitress at a strip club, life is looking up for Cheryl. Wolf, however, is less than thrilled at the thought of Cheryl and Allen spending all that time together. Eric (who is keeping his own ‘advances’ towards Cheryl very quiet) is dispatched to keep an eye on things. Meanwhile Jethro is also having a good run of it. His te reo lessons with Caroline are not only educational but also x-rated, so there’s no complaints from him there. Even better, he finds the ‘smoking gun’ – scribbled on the back of a takeaway menu. But scarcely has Jethro savored his triumph, when the evidence goes missing. Hugh. He denies this, of course, but Jethro knows an attempt to steal the glory when he sees one. So… Jethro hatches a plan. With his trusty PA, Savannah, as bait, Hugh is lured out for a big night out. Meanwhile, Van and Munter are to burgle Hugh’s apartment – to retrieve the smoking gun. Elsewhere, in a not unexpected move, Allen starts putting the moves on Cheryl. Dinner at his place? She knew this was coming and lets him down very smoothly. Until… Wolf comes in, all guns blazing, letting loose his jealousy over Cheryl’s working relationship with Allen. Cheryl, already pissed off with Wolf as it is, doesn’t need this lack of trust and tells him to stick it up his arse. Then she does go to Allen’s for dinner; where he kisses her and invites Cheryl to stay the night. Meanwhile, Jethro, Hugh and Savannah have ended up in the Champagne Club. Savannah can stand Hugh no more and bolts, leaving Jethro and the very very trashed Hugh alone – which is when Jethro discovers that Savannah was worse than useless as bait, because it is Jethro’s ‘brown arse’ that Hugh craves. Luckily for Jethro, the alcohol has done its work, and Hugh passes out. A late night meeting is taking place. Wolf and DS Wayne Judd. Wolf can stand idly by no longer. He has information for Sergeant Judd. The next morning, Hugh wakes up on a park bench. Cheryl arrives for work. She didn’t give in to Allen’s advances last night. Allen can’t understand why she didn’t. He’s in the process of proving how much he feels for her, when the Judd and the cops raid the car yard – catching Allen with his trousers round his ankles. Allen Markham, it seems, is not the honest second-hand car dealer he makes himself out to be. Winding back odometers and a sideline in stolen Subarus is very much his territory. In this way Cheryl loses her new job. She also realises who shopped Allen. Over at Trapman-Stierson, Jethro leads the powhiri in Māori for the Iwi representatives. The smoking gun is safely in the hands of Stierson and Jethro is the hero. Hugh, arriving late and disheveled, has been vanquished. All that remains is for Cheryl to confront Wolf. He didn’t trust her. He had no faith in her. And what he did to Allen goes against everything they’ve ever believed. She tells him she doesn’t want to see him for a while. Wolf is defiant to the end – he’ll be right there when she does. Category:Season One